A multicultural variety show at UEAA multicultural variety show at UEA

Our first multicultural show to share art, fun and culture from different countries was held in December 2013.

Language and Communication Studies students and associates performed in various languages and displayed different cultures, incorporating music, sketches, dancing...and more!

The performances were accessible to local secondary school students from year 10 and above.

The show took place on December 12th 2014, at the UEA Drama Studio.

The performers, who ranged from experienced to amateur in their background, were all drawn from the UEA student body and the cultures represented were many and varied.

Below is the breakdown of the performances which made up this inaugural LCS Factor multicultural show.

Yating Yan from China performed the Uighur dance, a passionate and colourful, fast-paced folk dance.

Yueli Zhou from Taiwan sang ‘Evening Primrose', a Chinese pop song by one of the most influential Chinese singers, Teresa Teng, from 1985. Yueli Zhou also played Richard Clayderman's ‘Triste Coeur' from 1982 on the piano.

Jack Nelson, Casey Drabble, Harriet Cook, and Emma-Louise Wagstaff performed a 1995 sketch ‘La Révolution' by French comedy trio Les Inconnus. Directed by Claire Cuminatto, this sketch depicts a school teacher trying to put on a school play about the French Revolution in the face of disruption and a lack of collaboration from his students.

Chester Bowerman (guitar) and Nerea Rosa-Barros (dance) performed some Flamenco: ‘Desire, El deseo atrapado por la cola' (Desire caught by the tail inspired by a Picasso painting) from 1986 by Juan Martin, renowned Spanish guitarist; Zapateado 'a solas', choreographed by Nerea; Libertango by Astor Piazzolla played by Chester; and ‘Sevillanas, Flamenco Fusion', a famous dance from the South of Spain

Jenna Woodward sang: ‘Le Secret', a 19th century French song by Gabriel Faure (1881); and ‘Tra va ruggit creast (When Christ was born)', a Christmas song from the Isle of Man.

Joseph Bauermeister performed ‘Radioactive' (a song by Imagine Dragons) in British Sign Language using illuminated gloves.

Zizhen Ling and Jinyang Wang from China performed ‘On the top of East Mountain' (a Tibetan song) originally performed by TanJing in 2000 with lyrics by Tsang Yang Gyatso, a famous poet and the 6th Dalai Lama.

Brittany Barker and Yamilka Roque performed poetry accompanied by a guitar.

Yianna Papadopulus from Greece performed some tribal and Warda bellydancing.

Ewelina Turek, Katie Blackbourne and Tomas Marin performed ‘Tsuru no ongaeshi', a Japanese folk tale:

On a snowy day in winter, the old man was going to town. He found a crane that was caught in a hunter's trap. Feeling sorry for the crane, the man released the bird from the trap.

Later that night, a beautiful girl came to the couple's house and asked to take shelter there until the snow stopped. Three days passed and when the snow stopped the girl asked the couple who treated her as their daughter if she could live with them. The elderly couple was delighted to accept.

After few days, the girl offered to weave some cloth, and asked the couple to buy her yarn. When she got the yarn, she asked the couple to keep away from her while she was weaving in her room; then she hid in the room, and wove for three days straight without a break. She came out with a very beautiful cloth. She asked for more yarn, and did the same again and again.

The couple were curious to know what she was hiding in her room. When they tried to enter the room, they saw a crane with its feathers plucked. It was the crane that the old man had saved. It was disguised as a human. The crane plucked its own feathers to weave the threads to produce the cloths. The girl turned into a crane and flew away.